[circular-objects-blog]

Petro-Subjectivity by Brett Bloom, 2015.

A map exposing the far-reaching tentacles of oil in the modern living landscape.

[circular-objects-blog]

Einstein together with Leo Szilard developed a refrigerator that has no moving parts, runs on heat instead of electricity and doesn’t use toxic refrigerants to cool down the food. However, it has not been commercialized, the patent was bought as quickly as it was registered by Swedish appliance manufacturer, Electrolux.

[circular-objects-blog]

The most sustainable product is the one you are already using

quote from an interview with Olivier Hebert Fairphone’s CTO. What this quote aims to communicate is that when we hold onto products that we already have instead of replacing them at a fast-paced rhythm; we reduce the CO2 emissions caused by all the energy and resource intensive procedures previous to the selling point of a product.

[circular-objects-blog]

DIN X by Miriam Harig at OBJECT Rotterdam

[circular-objects-blog]

Marbled Salts by Roxane Lahidji at OBJECT Rotterdam 2018. 

Photo credit by  Yen-An-Chen, Ronald Smith

[circular-objects-blog]

Circular Objects @ OBJECT Rotterdam 2018

As part of Rotterdam Art Week, I had the pleasure to attend OBJECT Rotterdam 2018. I remark, pleasure. It is always encouraging and delightful to see so many young (and not so young), fresh designers putting so much energy and effort in designing the future but in a sustainable way. Taking into consideration that the world resources are scarce, not infinite and that what we do today and how we do it will have an impact on tomorrow. That’s undeniable.

I encountered many projects focusing on creating future friendly objects. I ended up having three top-picks. Focused on daily objects, they are things that we need, we love and we will definitely keep for as long as we can. Furniture and shoes. One focused on circularity and two focused on transforming low value into highly valuable objects and thus, deriving consumption of scarce products into products that are abundant and biological, natural.  

A circular one…. Miriam Harig with her project DIN X presented serene aesthetics and very well thought joining methods. Her modular design really allows for friendly and enjoyable user interaction. She proposes furniture elements that will stick to you by challenging your creativity in a fun way. Horizontal or vertical, the possibilities are infinite. The philosophy and intentions behind it? To be able to create a product to adapt to our different, fast-changing needs and spaces, which is pretty much what our contemporary lives look like nowadays. A perfect example of what a reusable object is all about. Adaptable, easy to assemble and disassemble, light but strong, playful, attractive and desirable.  

“Low value” materials into expensive looking ones...like Fela Kuti would say, expensive show! Roxane Lahidji presented Marbled Salts. She was able to create expensive looking objects using a “low value”, non-scarce material like salt is. Through marble looking salts she is able to create a product aesthetically luxurious by using a very sustainable material, like salt coming from the south of France, and yes, is water resistant! so you can be sure to let your clumsy friend place his gin and tonic on top, it will not ruin your “marble”!

Another example of sustainable design was Raphia. Dutch designer Said Belhadj uses a “low value” material, Raphia taedigera palmtree, to create comfortable and smart looking shoes. Able to escape from oriental producers, he has developed a product crafted between Morocco and Portugal that not only will fit you but also please you. By wearing their shoes, you are supporting European and African crafters, scaping non-biological material use and getting a smart look at the same time. Only for the summer though!

You can find them in Utrecht as part of a collective of local designers called PUHA, not mass production allowed; clothing, books, jewelry and accessories made by more than 50 different young designers.

[circular-objects-blog]

Circular Objects Manifesto

As the main writer of this space I would like to present to you:

  What I am doing… I am PhD candidate funded by the EU through a scholarship called MSCA to research into Product Design for Circular Economy. I belong to a group of other 14 PhDs researching into circular economy, we are called Circ€Uit. Unfortunately, the output of our research is quite intangible for the non-academic public, which is the reason why I have decided to create this platform for discussion. I am doing it as an amateur who wants to put the knowledge available for people who is interested

How do I perceive my publications… I want to focus my publications on products, normal products, daily life products. The circular economy concept is not a paradigm far away from reality. It is happening and will happen, therefore I want to communicate that through my publications. I will present mostly case studies, analysis of objects that I encounter, looked at through the glass that the circular economy concepts provide me with.

Why do I do this… if you share information, you will get information. One of the goals that would like to achieve through these publications is to create a discussion among people interested in the matter. Blue collar, white collar, artists, teachers, anarchists, critics…. doesn’t matter, all welcome! Sustainability is about creating a balance in the world and for the world therefore everyone should have a say. I believe creating awareness in sustainability is necessary and that the more the voices, the better. I also believe that sustainability can only be reached when we, as designers, create options and not criticism.

I also publish in Medium for The Circulo Collective.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Beatriz